Written Answers Thursday 15 March 2007

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to reduce the volume of regulation dealt with by farmers.

Ross Finnie: We are working closely with representative farming organisations to ensure that regulation focuses on real problems and that it is fair and proportionate and realistic.

Autism

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women are diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, broken down by age.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not available centrally.

Blind and Partially Sighted People

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are registered blind as a consequence of wet age-related macular degeneration, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: Information on how many people are registered blind as a consequence of wet age-related macular degeneration, broken down by NHS board is not held centrally.

Child Care

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how long on average it takes the Care Commission to provide appropriate accreditation for those who apply to become childminders; whether there is a backlog of around three months and a total time duration of four months to provide such accreditation; if so, whether the Executive considers such timescales acceptable and, if it does not, what steps it will take to reduce them.

Lewis Macdonald: Information about the registration of care services by the Care Commission is not collected in this way.

  The Care Commission’s corporate plan, including key performance indicators (KPIs), is approved by Scottish ministers. The plan for 2006-09 includes a KPI measuring the percentage of registrations completed within target times, based on the time between receipt of a valid application and the date of registration.

  In 2006-07 the target for completing childminders registration is 80% within three months. The definition of this target allows for registrations which take more than three months to process from receipt of the valid application where the cause of delay was outwith the Care Commission’s control. Delays can be caused, for example, by awaiting Disclosure Scotland information or references about medical suitability, or a request by the applicant for the application to be put on hold. It is reasonable to take these into account when measuring the Care Commission’s performance.

  On that basis, in Scotland between 1 April 2006 and 31 January 2007, 84% of childminders were registered within three months of receipt of a valid application.

  My officials regularly meet the Care Commission to discuss performance against targets in the corporate plan and remedial action where targets are not achieved.

  Further information about registration of care services can be obtained from the Chief Executive of the Care Commission:

  Jacquie Roberts Care Commission Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY Telephone: 01382 207109 (Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive).

Civil Service

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is still its policy to disperse civil service jobs across Scotland.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive remains committed to the policy of job dispersal. Dundee City has benefited from the location of over 130 posts under our relocation policy since 1999.

Community Care

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what total number of home help hours was delivered in each year since 1997-98, broken down by local authority area.

Lewis Macdonald: Copies of a table showing the number of home care hours received by clients in each year since 1997-2008 have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42111).

Community Care

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority spent on (a) residential care homes and (b) nursing homes for elderly people in each of the last five years.

Lewis Macdonald: As from April 2002 the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 removed the statutory distinction between residential care homes and nursing homes. Consequently, local authority expenditure on residential care homes and on nursing homes was combined from financial year 2002-03 onwards and reclassified as Older People - Care Homes (Non Respite). The following table shows expenditure in each of the last five years. The figures for 2001-02 are the combined figures under the two previous headings. Those from 2002-03 onwards are the figures under the single new heading.

  Older People - Care Homes (Non Respite) Net Revenue Expenditure

  

 Local Authority
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Scotland
 266,352
 326,375
 352,913
 397,999
 422,887


 Aberdeen City
 13,164
 18,509
 22,406
 22,544
 26,077


 Aberdeenshire
 10,924
 5,877
 6,023
 21,155
 22,242


 Angus
 7,074
 10,500
 10,541
 12,885
 12,484


 Argyll and Bute
 5,529
 9,278
 8,508
 9,421
 11,325


 Clackmannanshire
 2,155
 2,570
 2,736
 3,188
 3,529


 Dumfries and Galloway
 6,823
 8,982
 9,644
 9,540
 7,312


 Dundee City
 8,314
 11,871
 13,352
 16,056
 15,306


 East Ayrshire
 5,635
 9,267
 10,388
 10,820
 11,329


 East Dunbartonshire
 343
 0
 6,344
 2,618
 5,397


 East Lothian
 4,279
 7,300
 6,897
 8,304
 9,833


 East Renfrewshire
 3,408
 8,902
 4,062
 5,031
 5,896


 Edinburgh City
 14,820
 34,967
 43,351
 45,877
 46,146


 Eilean Siar
 3,948
 4,627
 4,039
 4,242
 4,978


 Falkirk
 8,291
 5,133
 8,101
 8,242
 7,919


 Fife
 16,594
 16,035
 20,224
 29,153
 27,481


 Glasgow City
 42,612
 20,057
 17,554
 17,227
 15,877


 Highland
 15,039
 22,278
 24,483
 26,255
 27,514


 Inverclyde
 4,733
 7,105
 7,380
 5,463
 5,644


 Midlothian
 3,623
 5,728
 6,894
 7,463
 7,323


 Moray
 4,397
 5,794
 7,009
 6,347
 6,775


 North Ayrshire
 7,655
 10,413
 11,541
 12,967
 12,786


 North Lanarkshire
 18,950
 27,293
 24,735
 28,910
 27,507


 Orkney Islands
 2,090
 2,162
 2,329
 1,951
 3,047


 Perth and Kinross
 7,172
 12,065
 15,266
 15,868
 14,613


 Renfrewshire
 8,490
 11,540
 14,052
 14,936
 13,979


 Scottish Borders
 5,313
 5,566
 10,329
 10,133
 11,121


 Shetland Islands
 1,485
 1,372
 1,636
 2,044
 3,285


 South Ayrshire
 5,456
 6,300
 7,114
 7,337
 6,490


 South Lanarkshire
 13,039
 21,269
 5,435
 8,330
 25,831


 Stirling
 2,457
 5,438
 5,908
 5,977
 6,932


 West Dunbartonshire
 7,289
 7,457
 7,588
 8,301
 7,369


 West Lothian
 5,251
 720
 7,044
 9,414
 9,540



  Source: As reported on the LFR 3 (Social Work) for the above years.

Dentistry

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentists have exhausted their 2006-07 NHS budgets.

Lewis Macdonald: This question is relevant only to NHS dentistry in England and Wales. Fixed NHS dentistry budgets, as part of a defined contract for NHS dental services, form no part of the provision of NHS dentistry in Scotland, and it is therefore not possible for NHS dentists to exhaust their annual budgets.

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 951 drug-related deaths involving methadone recorded since 1990 were the subject of a fatal accident inquiry.

George Lyon: The information requested is not held centrally.

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-29476 by George Lyon on 15 November 2006, from where the figures on methadone-related deaths for the years since 1990 were derived.

George Lyon: The figures were compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) from death registrations and associated returns from procurators fiscal and forensic pathologists.

  Further information is given in the annual GROS paper on drug-related deaths. The most recent paper may be found at: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/drug-related-deaths/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-in-2005/index.html.

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of the 951 methadone-related deaths since 1990 were recorded as accidental.

George Lyon: Seventy-one were recorded as accidental poisoning and a further 113 were recorded as poisoning of undetermined intent because it was not possible to determine whether or not the poisoning was accidental.

Drug Misuse

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it records the number of methadone prescriptions that are issued.

Lewis Macdonald: Prescription data is collected centrally by ISDScotland which is a business operating unit of NHS National Services Scotland

  The Prescribing Team within ISD maintains a detailed database of all NHS prescriptions dispensed in the community in Scotland. The information is supplied to ISD by Practitioner Services Division (PSD) who are responsible for the processing and pricing of all prescriptions dispensed in Scotland.

  These data are augmented with information on prescriptions written in Scotland that were dispensed elsewhere in the United Kingdom. All these prescriptions are dispensed by community pharmacies, dispensing doctors and a small number of specialist appliance suppliers. They also include prescriptions written in hospitals that are dispensed in the community, but exclude drugs dispensed within hospitals themselves.

Energy

John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the value to the economy is of exports of electricity to other parts of the United Kingdom through the national grid, in both financial and employment terms.

Allan Wilson: In Scotland in 2002, the latest year for which data is available, 8.03 terawatt hours of electricity generated in Scotland was exported to other parts of the UK. According to Ofgem, the average wholesale price for electricity in 2002 was £15.20/MWh, on which basis the gross value of sales of electricity for that year is estimated at £122 million. There is no breakdown for the value of exports of electricity in employment terms.

Farming

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average (a) output of farm businesses by farm type and (b) change in output was in each year since 1997.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is given in the following table. The table uses data from the Farm Accounts Survey (FAS) which covers the farm types listed below but does not cover horticulture, specialist pigs and poultry farms. The final column shows the number of farms sampled in 2005-06.

  

 Average Output (Farm Type)
 1997-98
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02


 LFA: Specialist Sheep
 48,984
 44,220
 38,163
 41,127
 42,276


 LFA: Specialist Beef
 68,471
 67,314
 69,414
 68,944
 80,451


 LFA: Cattle and Sheep
 82,473
 77,887
 73,250
 73,708
 84,563


 Cereals
 102,403
 95,560
 103,664
 101,106
 79,921


 General Cropping
 146,502
 156,289
 171,966
 170,946
 134,124


 Dairy
 160,410
 144,571
 142,182
 153,937
 183,148


 Lowground Cattle and Sheep*
 -
 -
 -
 64,500
 -


 Mixed
 110,563
 101,958
 103,536
 106,493
 108,765


 All
 98,852
 94,345
 96,710
 98,620
 97,866



  Note: *Results are not shown for farm types of less than five holdings, as the results may not be reliable.

  The FAS covers farms that are equal to or greater than 0.5 Standard Labour Requirements - smaller farms are excluded. The FAS does not cover horticulture, specialist pigs and poultry farm types.

  

 Average Output (Farm Type)
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2005-06


 LFA: Specialist Sheep
 50,977 
 54,968 
 54,939 
 51,039 
 47


 LFA: Specialist Beef
 102,797 
 104,152 
 106,646 
 104,523 
 118


 LFA: Cattle and Sheep
 99,951 
 108,983 
 110,556 
 107,621 
 70


 Cereals
 106,361 
 135,274 
 120,037 
 128,005 
 59


 General Cropping
 157,565 
 166,838 
 160,296 
 151,580 
 40


 Dairy
 181,554 
 195,698 
 209,731 
 209,945 
 63


 Lowground Cattle and Sheep*
 83,380 
 84,845 
 78,622 
 84,754 
 12


 Mixed
 120,772 
 148,982 
 140,520 
 140,984 
 65


 All
 112,225 
 124,123 
 121,960 
 120,912 
 474



  Note: *Results are not shown for farm types of less than five holdings, as the results may not be reliable.

  The FAS covers farms that are equal to or greater than 0.5 Standard Labour Requirements - smaller farms are excluded. The FAS does not cover horticulture, specialist pigs and poultry farm types.

Fatal Accident Inquiries

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fatal accident inquiries have been reopened since 1999 and, of these, how many upheld the objections to the original findings.

Elish Angiolini QC: While my department does not keep records which would record this information I have been advised that there have been no instances, so far as my officials are aware, where a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) has been reopened.

  There have been cases where an FAI has been the subject of judicial review on the grounds that the sheriff’s findings were unreasonable. My department does not hold a record of the numbers of such cases but they are believed to be small. I am only aware of one such case since 1999 and in that case the court did not accept the argument that the sheriff’s findings were unreasonable and should therefore be set aside.

First Minister

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-31726 by Mr Tom McCabe on 27 February 2007, who met the costs of the First Minister’s flight to London and return rail journey.

Mr Tom McCabe: The costs referred to were met by the Scottish Executive.

Fisheries

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether proposals are in place anent the introduction of a system of administrative penalties for fisheries offences committed by the skippers or owners of fishing vessels in fishing grounds policed by the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and whether such a legal procedure could be used in respect of offenders whose vessels are registered in other European Union states.

Ross Finnie: A consultation exercise was carried out in the first quarter of 2006 on a system of administrative penalties which gives alleged offenders the opportunity to accept a fixed financial penalty as an alternative to criminal prosecution. The Scottish Parliament voted through on 1 March 2007 the Fisheries and Aquaculture (Scotland) Bill which contains implementing provisions for such a system. Consultation is on-going with stakeholders regarding secondary legislation to extend the scheme to domestic legislation and not just European legislation. The system will be applicable to all vessels fishing within the Scottish zone including those whose vessels are registered in other European Union countries. The proposed date for implementation is 1 January 2008.

Forestry

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that forestry should be covered by the provisions of the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 and what representations it will make to Her Majesty’s Government on the matter.

Sarah Boyack: Forestry work is covered by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority licensing scheme under the definition of agriculture. Agriculture is defined in the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 using the same definition used in the Agricultural Wages Act 1948.

  A copy of the joint statement between the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, Forestry Commission and the Northern Ireland Forest Service which provides further guidance on how the Gangmasters Licensing Authority’s licensing scheme affects the forestry industry is available on the Gangmasters Licensing Authority website: http://www.gla.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?id=1013074.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in which NHS board areas (a) macugen, (b) lucentis or (c) avistin is prescribed to treat the early stages of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Lewis Macdonald: Information on the NHS board areas which prescribe (a) macugen, (b) lucentis or (c) avistin to treat the early stages of wet age-related macular degeneration is not held centrally.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are undergoing treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: Information on patients undergoing treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration, by NHS board area, is not available centrally.

Hospitals

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it contacted Castle Craig hospital requesting the information asked for in parliamentary questions S2W-31662 and S2W-31663.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Executive officials contacted Castle Craig hospital with regard to these parliamentary questions and were advised that it was not possible for hospital staff to provide the information requested within the necessary timescales.

  No information relating to these questions was received by my officials from Castle Craig hospital, prior to information being circulated to members by the hospital on 6 March 2007.

Marine Environment

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in consulting on amending the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 in respect of ship-to-ship oil transfer in the Firth of Forth.

Sarah Boyack: We would aim to bring forward proposals for consultation at the earliest opportunity if review of the Regulations establishes the need for any change in the way that they apply to port and harbour authority responsibilities.

Maternity Services

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis or data the level of provision of neonatal transport is decided.

Lewis Macdonald: This is a National Service which is planned and provided on a regional basis. There is a national co-ordinator who oversees provision nationally and each region (North, South East and Tayside, and West) has a regional director and regional co-ordinator. There is an accurate and comprehensive date set on current and historical neonatal transfers.

Midwifery

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of midwives required by the NHS (a) currently and (b) over the next five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table refers to the anticipated number of nursing and midwifery staff required to fill vacancies and meet projected need, so it includes both replacement and expansion demand.

  Current and Projected Demand - Registered Midwives (Head Count)

  

Current Demand
 2006-07
 2007-08
 2008-09
 2009-10
 2010-11
 5 Year Change
(%)Change
Average Annual Increase


3,595
 3,760
 3,806
 3,838
 3,836
 3,834
 239
 6.6%
 1.3%

Ministers

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all ministerial engagements that have taken place since 1 September 2006, broken down by (a) ministerial portfolio, (b) name of minister and (c) Scottish parliamentary constituency.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held in this format, as we do not plan engagements on the basis of parliamentary constituencies.

NHS Finance

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the expenditure by unweighted head of population and (a) in-year and (b) accumulated financial positions were of each NHS board for (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05 and (iii) 2005-06.

Mr Andy Kerr: The expenditure by unweighted head of population for each NHS board from 2003-04 to 2005-06 was:

  

 Health Board
2003-04 (£)
2004-05 (£)
2005-06 (£)


 Argyll and Clyde
 1,344
 1,480
 1,562


 Ayrshire and Arran
 1,216
 1,387
 1,526


 Borders
 1,263
 1,367
 1,457


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1,312
 1,426
 1,527


 Fife
 1,127
 1,243
 1,343


 Forth Valley
 1,153
 1,271
 1,393


 Grampian
 1,122
 1,229
 1,288


 Greater Glasgow
 1,403
 1,538
 1,656


 Highland
 1,314
 1,480
 1,612


 Lanarkshire
 1,178
 1,290
 1,384


 Lothian
 1,277
 1,260
 1,340


 Orkney
 1,570
 1,675
 1,923


 Shetland
 1,520
 1,718
 1,872


 Tayside
 1,346
 1,466
 1,550


 West Isles
 1,937
 2,173
 2,392



  Under resource accounting, any under/over spend against the resource limit is dealt with by an adjustment to the following year’s resource limit. Therefore the accumulated and in year position are effectively the same.

  The financial position of NHS boards in Scotland from 2003-04 was:

  

 Health Board
2003-04 (£000)
2004-05 (£000)
2005-06 (£000)


 Argyll and Clyde
 (35,370)
 (59,492)
 569


 Ayrshire and Arran
 13,549
 22,901
 17,405


 Borders
 299
 3,380
 3,314


 Dumfries and Galloway
 5,491
 9,455
 14,223


 Fife
 2,366
 5,400
 4,582


 Forth Valley
 392
 410
 407


 Grampian
 (4,804)
 (10,774)
 456


 Greater Glasgow
 5,010
 12,103
 12,284


 Highland
 2,522
 1,838
 1,369


 Lanarkshire
 (21,208)
 (20,042)
 (8,393)


 Lothian
 13,207
 19,566
 179


 Orkney
 34
 60
 50


 Shetland
 339
 24
 341


 Tayside
 4,298
 4,460
 1,141


 West Isles
 (271)
 (738)
 (2,484)


 Special Health Boards
 12,733
 22,459
 24,153


 Total
 (1,413)
 11,010
 69,596

NHS Finance

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) accumulated and (b) in-year financial positions of the NHS were in each year since 1996-97.

Mr Andy Kerr: For years prior to 2002-03, health boards had one statutory financial duty – to ensure that net expenditure does not exceed their cash limit. The figures below show for that period the accumulated position of boards against their cash limits.

  In 2002-03 Resource Accounting and Budgeting was introduced for NHS in Scotland, so the figures below show the accumulated position of boards against their revenue resource limits. Under resource accounting surpluses and deficits do not accumulate. Any under/over spend against the resource limit is dealt with by an adjustment to the following year’s resource limit, therefore the accumulated and in-year position are effectively the same.

  The financial position of the NHS from 1996-97 to 2005-06 was as follows:

  


£000


1996-97
14,500


1997-98
19,300


1998-99
34,500


1999-2000
37,469


2000-01
37,342


2001-02
43,737


2002-03
30,853


2003-04
(1,413)


2004-05
11,010


2005-06
69,596

NHS Waiting Times

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) average and (b) longest waiting times were for treatment in (i) ear, nose and throat, (ii) general surgery, (iii) gynaecology, (iv) orthopaedic, (v) rheumatology, (vi) urology and (vii) pain relief specialities in each of the last five years, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: Median waiting times are not an Executive target. Our policy is to reduce the longest waiting times for patients. On 31 December 2006, no patient with a guarantee had waited more than 26 weeks for a first out-patient appointment. This national maximum waiting time will be reduced to 18 weeks by the end of this year.

  Information on median and 99th percentile waiting times for treatment is given in Median and 99th percentile waiting times (days) for out-patient appointments and in-patient/day case admissions for selected specialties by NHS board; years ending 31 March 2002 - 2006 a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42300).

  The 99th percentile waiting time is used in preference to the maximum wait in these analyses. This approach is taken because the one percent of values that are larger than the 99th percentile cannot be relied upon; cases with very long waits may be a mixture of actual times and times that are a result of recording errors.

  Centrally held data cannot specifically identify either inpatient/day case admissions or outpatient appointments for pain relief specialties, thus, these data are not presented.

National Health Service

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP practices had not concluded negotiations for a Section 17C Primary Medical Services contract at 1 March 2007, broken down by NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not routinely collected by the Scottish Executive Health Department.

  However, advice obtained from all 14 territorial NHS boards indicates that only one GP practice is still in negotiation for a Section 17C Primary Medical Services contract at 1 March 2007, and that the practice concerned is located in the NHS Orkney Board area.

  I understand that NHS Orkney and the GP practice concerned are aiming to conclude contract negotiations by 31 March 2007.

National Health Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what change there has been in the number of (a) NHS beds, (b) general and acute beds, (c) intermediate care beds, (d) non-residential intermediate care places and (e) adult critical care beds in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS hospital.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on average available staffed beds for each NHS hospital and the yearly change in bed numbers for the years ending 31 March 1999 to 2006 is contained in a document NHSScotland Average Available Staffed Beds (1999-2006) a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42272).

  Table 1 shows information for all average available staffed beds.

  Table 2 provides information for beds in acute specialties.

  Table 3 shows the number of critical care beds (beds in intensive care, high dependency and cardiac care units) excluding beds in children’s hospitals.

  Information on intermediate care beds and non-residential intermediate care places is not held centrally.

National Health Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of out-patient operations were cancelled in each NHS hospital in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on cancelled out-patient operations is not collected centrally.

Nursing

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of nursing vacancies in the NHS at the end of August 2007.

Mr Andy Kerr: From analysis of NHS board workforce plans submitted in April 2006, the number of qualified nursing and midwifery vacancies at the end of August 2007 is expected to range from 593.6 to 766.6 whole-time equivalent, or 1.5% to 2.0% of the expected establishment in August 2007.

  For comparison, the vacancy rate as a percentage of establishment was 4.5% at the 31 of March 2005 and 3.6% at the 31 of March 2006.

Nursing

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nursing graduates had not completed a preceptorship one year after their graduation in each of the last three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. NHS boards are responsible for ensuring that newly qualified nurses and midwives are supported into the workforce. In addition, since January 2006, all newly qualified nurses and midwives who take up employment in NHS Scotland have the opportunity to undertake Flying Start NHS, a web-based blended learning programme which supports practitioners during the first year of employment. To date, 1,750 nurses and midwives have registered with the Flying Start programme.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to where staff and prisoners from HM Prison Low Moss will be moved after its closure.

Cathy Jamieson: Most prisoners will be liberated from Low Moss, at the conclusion of their sentence, or moved to Open Prison prior to closure. Staff are being redeployed, mainly to the central belt, based on preferences they have previously expressed and to meet current vacancies and operational need.

Prison Service

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration is given to the redeployment of staff in the event of a prison closure, such as at HM Prison Low Moss, when redundancy is not available.

Cathy Jamieson: Low Moss is being closed to make way for a new, modern and purpose built prison facility. The quick and efficient redeployment of staff is a key issue in any closure process. The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) ensure that trade union partners are fully involved in all aspects of prison closures.

  Staff are asked to express a preference for a relocated placement, which is, in turn, considered against available vacancies and operational need.

  The SPS met 83% of the expressed preferences of staff in Low Moss.

Rail Network

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Network Rail regarding the maintenance programme for points on the west and east coast main lines.

Tavish Scott: Responsibility for monitoring Network Rail’s maintenance performance, including safety matters, rests with the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). Her Majesty’s Rail Inspectorate is a part of the ORR.

  Transport Scotland officials analyse monthly reports published by Network Rail and Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) and discuss safety and performance of the rail network in Scotland with officials of Network Rail and HMRI on a regular basis.

  These discussions include infrastructure failure across the network, and provide assurances to Scottish ministers of Network Rail’s continued vigilance regarding the operation and safety of the rail network in Scotland. Maintenance of the rail network is an operational matter for Network Rail.

Rail Network

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on how many sets of railway points in Scotland have been re-inspected since the Cumbria rail crash.

Tavish Scott: I refer the member to the answer to question S2F-2760 on 1 March 2007. All answers to oral parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/index.htm .

Rail Network

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding railway maintenance following the Cumbria rail crash.

Tavish Scott: Transport Scotland officials have been involved in various rail safety related discussions with officials of the Department for Transport following the publication of the interim report into the Cumbria rail incident by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

Residential Care

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to improve standards in care homes following the publication of the Care Commission’s recent study of services.

Lewis Macdonald: Improving standards of care in Scotland is what we set up the Care Commission to do. I am confident that the commission acts in the best interest of the many vulnerable people who use care services, and that it will take immediate and appropriate action when services do not come up to scratch, using the enforcement tools given to it by the Parliament.

  I welcome the publication of the commission’s report on The Quality of Care Services in Scotland. The report demonstrates that overall the quality of care across Scotland is good, and that there are a great many excellent and innovative care services, including care homes for older people. It also presents some challenging findings, particularly in relation to care homes.

  The report gives the Care Commission the evidence specifically to target the service sectors where there is the greatest need for improvement. The commission will work with services and other national organisations to drive up the quality of care homes. This action will include focussing inspections on areas that matter most, such as privacy and good information and complaints systems, and working more closely with care homes that have the most complaints and requirements.

  To help it do this, the Care Commission employs professional advisors in areas such as nutrition and infection control to provide support and advice to its staff and to care service providers, and it promotes good practice through its website and in Care News. The commission is also developing a grading system for care services that will focus their resources on those providers most in need of improvement.

  The Scottish Executive has provided funding to support the appointment by the Care Commission of a Nurse Consultant for Care Homes. Part of her role has been to create a learning network for staff in care homes. One of her projects focuses on nutrition, and the Care Commission Professional Adviser-Nutrition and its Dieticians network for care homes will work together on this initiative.

  In addition, from April 2007 the Scottish Executive and local councils will deliver a further £20 million in new resources to increase care home fee levels in the independent sector. We intend that this increased investment will be targeted to further improve the quality of care, and we are discussing with the sector how that can best be done. We are also working to agree how fees will be linked to quality on a continuing basis from 2008.

Rural Development

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to submit the Scottish Rural Development Programme to the European Commission.

Ross Finnie: We are unable formally to submit the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) until there is agreement over the European Commissions proposed regulation on voluntary modulation. I am unable to say when this will be.

  Drafts of the SRDP have been shared with the Commission for informal comment. Sharing drafts with the Commission at this stage is intended to allow the programme document to be finalised as much as possible in advance of the voluntary modulation regulation being adopted.

Social Work

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-31669 by Lewis Macdonald on 20 February 2007, whether it will provide information on the powers of direction in relation to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, in respect of the circumstances that would trigger their use and what measures may be taken.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish ministers have the power to issue directions to local authorities (either individually or collectively) under section 5(1A) of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 as to the manner in which they are to exercise their functions under the 1968 act. A range of circumstances could trigger the use of a direction, including the need to formalise best practices or to intervene when local authorities are not exercising their functions under the 1968 act in an appropriate way. A local authority has a statutory obligation to comply with a direction issued under the 1968 act.

Social Work

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-31669 by Lewis Macdonald on 20 February 2007, when, and in what circumstances, the powers of direction under to the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 were last used.

Lewis Macdonald: The powers of direction under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 were last used in March 1997, when directions on the information to be included in Community Care Plans were issued.

Sport

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the level of sports facility provision across Scotland.

Patricia Ferguson: It is for local authorities to decide if the level of local sports facility provision is satisfactory in fulfilling their statutory responsibility of ensuring that there is adequate provision of sporting facilities for their residents.

  The National Audit of Scotland’s Sports Facilities summary report, published by sportscotland in June 2006 (Bib. number 39798) highlighted the need for significant investment by local authorities in our sports facilities. More importantly, however, it called upon local authorities to prepare facility strategies to ensure we have the right facilities in the right places. This message is reinforced in Reaching Higher – Building on the success of Sport 21, the revised national sport strategy which I launched on Thursday 8 March which sets out the need for quality facilities as one of our national priorities. The Executive, through sportscotland, stands ready to assist local authorities in taking forward their role and responsibilities as set out in the revised strategy.

Waste Management

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made through the National Waste Plan towards achieving recycling and composting rates of 30% by 2008 and 55% by 2020.

Ross Finnie: The latest figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency show that we recycled/composted 24.4% of municipal waste in 2005-06. We are holding workshops with local authorities and others on how to improve our recycling and composting performance further and are committed to achieving 30% by 2008 and 55% by 2020.

Waste Management

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will work towards a target of zero waste in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: Although we do not consider that it is realistic to eliminate waste entirely, we are committed to more sustainable waste management including waste prevention, increased recycling and composting and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill.